Tuning indicator for radioreceivers



Sept. 1, 1931. A. J. NEEF 1,821,563

TUNING INDICATOR FOR RADIORECEIVERS Filed Aug. 9, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR ADOLPH J NEEF A ORNEY Sept. 1, 1931. A. J. NEEF 82TUNING'INDICATOR FOR RADI ORECEIVER Filed Aug. 9, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 23 l5 FIG. 7

FIG.6

INVENTOR ADOLPH J NEEF A ORNEY Patented Sept. 1, 193i ADOLPH J. NEEF, OFBROOKLYN, NEW YORK. ASSIGNOR ,TO'THOMAS A. EDI SON, IN- CORPORATED, OFWEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY TUNING INDICATORFOR mmolmonivnas Application filed August 9, 1930. Serial No. 474,271.

This invention relates to tuning indicators for radio receivers and thelike and more particularly to indicators of the class described adaptedto give a light signal when the tuning mechanism is adjusted to theposition for selecting a desired station.

It is an object of this invention to provide apparatus of the classdescribed in which the flash of light indicating the correct setting ofthe tuning apparatus may be obtained without the use of auxiliarycontacts for closing the lamp circuit at particular. positions of thedial.

It is a further object of this invention to provide apparatus of theclass described in which the lamp which forms the source ofthe stationindicating flash is maintained continuously illuminated when thereceiver is in operation and the light from which is mechanicallyintercepted except when the tun: ing mechanism is set to a particularpredetermined adjustment.

It is a further object of this invention to provide apparatus of theclass described in which the light intercepting member is normallyinvisible and is provided with a removable opaque coating.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide apparatus ofthe class described embodying means "operable from the exterior of thereceiver housing for removing the opaque coating from the lightintercepting member. V

It is still a further object of this invention to provide apparatus ofthe class described so arranged that a considerable area of theindicating dial may be illuminated thereby.

Still other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent fromthe specification.

The features of novelty which I believe to be characteristic of myinvention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. Myinvention itself however both as to its fundamental principles and as toits particular embodiments will best be un-.

derstood by reference to the specification and accompanying drawings, inWhich Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the tuning 1n- :30 dicator accordingto my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof showing the opposite side from thatshown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional View showing the indicating dial, the lightintercepting ing a down-turned base portion 2 by means of which thetuning indicator mechanism may be secured to the baseboard or frame. Theupstanding portion of the bracket 1 is provided with a U-shaped cutout 3for receiving and rotatably supporting the driven shaft 4 of the tuningindicator. The said shaft may be hollow, if desired, and is providedwith an annular groove 6 for positioning the shaft in the bracket 1.Suitably secured on the end ofthe shaft there may be provided the drivenWheel 5.

The shaft 4 is provided with a shoulder 7 to rceive'a disc 8 having aperipheral flange 14 and cut away at 13 over more than half itscircumference; The indicating dial which in the form shown is aperipheral drum member 15 is secured to the flange '14 of disc 8 and ispreferably divided peripherally into two coextensive peripheralsections'side by side, one of which may be provided with permanentgraduations and a scale and the other of which'is preferably left blankand provided with a roughened surface adapted to be marked with apencil.

The member 15 is preferably translucent and the rear side may be coatedwith a pigment or coloring matter over the markable portion thereof,whereby when light falls I shoulder 19 to receive a second disc 9. Disc9 is likewise provided with a peripheral flange portion 10 and carryinga drum 11 which may be of celluloid or other suitable translucentmaterial provided on its outer surface with an opaque coating 12. Thecoating 12 is removable and is applied in such a way that it maybeeasily scratched off. Printers ink has been found to be a suitablecoating but it will be understood that other materials may be utilized.

The disc 9 is provided with a radial slot 9a for permitting the disc 9and the drum 12 attached thereto to be slid into position on shaft 4,and disc 8 carries studs 8a and 8?) against which disc 9 abuts to fixits position. The assembly may be locked in position by means ofa springlocking plate 16 having a radial slot 17 and having a finger piece 18struck up therefrom. The plate 16 is preferably slightly dished so thatwhen inserted in position the discs 8 and 9 and the locking plate 16 arefirmly but removably held 1n position upon shaft 4.

The mechanism for scraping or scratch I fall upon member 15. The housingfor the scraping mechanism 30 is provided with an end portion 31engaging the cover 32 and a shaft 33 extends therethrough provided w1tha pin 34 and carrying an eccentric 35.- For.

the purpose of holding the shaft rotatably in position in the housingthere may be provided a leaf spring 38 having its ends positioned withinstirrups 38a and 381). A washer 39 maybe positioned around shaft 33 anda pin 40 passed therethrough, whereby it will be seen that shaft 35 isheld resiliently in position. Mounted upon the slider 36 there isprovided a scraper 41 terminating in a blade 42 and having one or morebends therein as at 43 and rigidly secured to the slider 36 as at 44.The casing is depressed as at 45 to engage the bend 43 in, the scraper41 whereby it will be observed,'.upon rotation of shaft 33, as by ascrew driver inserted in the notch in the outer end of the shaft, ec-

centric 35 is rotated carrying with it slider 36 to the left as shown inFig. 3, thereby forcing the scraper 41 inward until the blade 42 comesin contact with member 11. Con- 'tinued rotation of the shaft 33 causesthe scraper blade to travel across the face of the member 11, scrapingaway a portion of the coating 12 and leaving a translucent line on themember 11 as more particularly shown in Fig. 5.

A lamp bracket 50- terminating in spring clips 51 and 52 carries anoffset portion 55 to which is 7 attached socket 56 for lamp 57. Alsosocket 53 carrying lamp' 54 is attached to bracket 50 in such mannerthat the spring clips 51 and 52 may he slid over the outer end of thebracket extension 29, thereby securing lamp 54 behind and in closeproximity to member, 11 and lamp 57 behind and in close proximity tomember 15. The spring an opening in which there is mounted a slid-- ingmember 67 carrying idler pulleys and 66. A member 69 is biaseddownwardly by a suitable spring in order to maintain the tension on thedriving cord which passes over the periphery of pulley wheel 5 over thepulleys 65 and 66 and one or more times around Shaft thethreaded member62, whereupon it will beseen that by rotation of shaft-59 the move mentis transmitted to pulley 5, thence to shaft 4 and thence to the tuningapparatus coupled thereto in any suitable manner.

In operation, the tuning mechanism and the tunmg instrumentalitiescoupled thereto are preferably arranged within the housingdiagrammatically indicated as at 70 and through which shafts 59 and 33project. Also the housing is provided with a pair of windows 71 and 72,one of which exposes to view the graduated central portion of member15', the other of which exposes the markable portion ofmember 15.Thetuning apparatus is adjusted by means of shaft 59 until the desiredstation is tuned in, whereupon the shaft 33 maybe rotated to cause thescraper blade 42 to inscribe a llI16.'0Il member 11. If the lamp 54 haspreviously been illuminated by means ofa switch, which for example maybe connected with the on and off switch of the receiver, the portion ofthe markable part of dial 15 observable through window 72 will now beilluminated and the user may inscribe on the dial 1 5 the call lettersof the station.

As the tuning is varied the translucent line on member 11 passes out ofregister with lamp 54 and window 72 and the portion of the dialobservable through window 72 is no longer illuminated. f

In order to obtain a clean cut flash of light the lamp 54 is preferablyplaced immediately adjacent and behind member 11 and the width i as ofthe scraper blade 42 is made such that the angle subtended at the sourceof illumination, that is the filament of the lamp, corresponds with theangle subtended at the filament of the lamp by the Width of window 72,in the direction of dial motion, whereby when the shaft 33 is operatedto scrape a line on member 11, the entire area of dial 15 visiblethrough Window 72 isillurninated, and any change in adjustment of thetuning mechanism, even through a small amount, causes a portion of thelight which would otherwise fall on the portion of the dial 15 visiblethrough window 72 to be intercepted by the coating 12, whereby it willbe seen. that by ad'- justing the tuning mechanism until the en'- tirearea of dial 15 observable through window 72 is illuminated a veryprecise adjustment of the tuning mechanism is had. Also it will be seenthat once having located a desired station and indicated its presence byoperation of the scraper and by marking the call lehers on dial 15through window 72 the station may be tuned in easily, quickly andaccurately at any subsequent time. While I have indicated the members 11and 15 as peripheral or drum members concentric or coaxial with respectto each other and movable simultaneously, it will be understood that theprinciples herein discussed may be utilized with circular dials, slidingscales or the like, and that modifications and changes may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as will beunderstood by those skilled in theart.

1. A tuning indicator for radio receivers and the like, comprising, incombination, a

movable translucent indicating member, a

second movable translucent member having an opaque portion which isadapted to be rendered translucent at a selected point, said portionbeing disposed adjacent and behind said first member, and a source oflight disposed behind said portion of said second member.

2. A tuning indicator for radio receivers and the like, comprising, incombination, a movable translucent indicating member, a second movabletranslucent member having a portion disposed adjacent and behind saidfirst member,and having a removable opaque coating, and a source oflight disposed behind said portion of said second member.

3. A tuning indicator for radio receivers and the like, comprising, incombination, a movable translucent drum indicating member, a secondmovable translucent drum mem ber having an opaque portion which isadapted to be rendered translucent at a selected point, said secondmember being disposed within said first member, and a source of lightdisposed within said second member.

4. A tuning indicator for radio receivers and the like, comprising, incombination, a movable translucent drum indicating member, a secondmovable translucent drum member having an opaque portion which isadapted to be rendered translucent at a selected point, said secondchamber being disposed within said first member and coaxial therewithand a source of light disposed within said second member.

5. A tuning indicator for radio receivers and the like, comprising incombination, a

ber having an opaque portion which is adapted to be rendered translucentat a selected point, said second member being disposed within said firstmember and movable synchronously therewith, and a source of lightdisposed within said second member and in immediate proximity to saidopaque portion. 7. A tuning indicator for radio receivers and the like,comprising, in combination, a movable translucent indicating member, asecond movable translucent member, having a removable opaque coating,and having a port-ion disposed adjacent and behind said first member,and a source of light disposed adjacent and behind said portion of saidsecond member. 8. A tuning indicator for radio receivers and the like,comprising, in combination, a

movable translucent indicating member, a.

second movable translucent member having a removable opaque coating, andhaving a portion disposed adjacent and behind said first member, asource of light disposed adjacent and behind said portionof said secondmember, and means for removing a portion of said opaque coating fromsaid second member.

9. A tuning indicator for radio receivers and the like, comprising, incombination, a housing, a movable translucent indicating member disposedwithin said housing, and having a portion exposed to view through anopening in said housing, a second movable translucent member having aremovable opaque coating and having a portion disposed adjacent andbehind said first member, a source of light disposed adjacent and behindsaid portion of said second member, means for removing a portion of saidopaque coating from said second member, and means operable from theexterior of said housing for operating said removing means,

10. A tuning indicator for radio receivers and the like, comprising, incombination, a housing, a movable translucent indicating no i drumdisposed within said housing and having a portion exposed to viewthrough an opening in said housing, a second movable translucent drumdisposed within said first 5 drum and having a removable opaque coating,a source of light disposed within said second drum, and means forremoving a portion of said opaque coating from said second drum.

11. A tuning indicator for radio receivers,

"I and the like, comprising, in combination, a

housing, a movable translucent indicating drum positioned within saldhousing and having a portion visible through an opening 16 in saidhousing, a second movable translucent ond movable translucent memberhaving a removable opaque coating disposed Within said housing andhaving a portion disposed behind the visible portion of said firstmember, a source of light positioned behind said portion of said secondmember, and means 'for removing a portion of said opaque coating. fromsaid second member, from an area so chosen with respect to the positionof said source of light and the position of said aperture that theentire visible portion of said first member is illuminated only forsettings of said indicator corresponding to those desired.

13. A tuning indicator for radio receivers and the like, comprising, incombination, a

housing having an aperture therein, a mov- I able translucent indicatingmember positioned within said housing and having a portion visiblethrough said aperture, a second movable translucent member having aremovable opaque coating disposed within said housing and having aportion disposed behind the visible portion of said first member, I

a source of light positioned behind said portion of said second memberwhereby light which would fall on the visible portion of said firstmember is intercepted by said second member, and means for removing aportion of said coating at desired settings of said indicator to permitsaid visible portion of -1 said first member to be illuminated at saidjust suflicient to illuminate the width of said first member visiblethrough said aperture.

14. A tuning indicator for radio receivers and the like, comprising, incombination, a housing-having an aperture therein, a movable translucentindicating member p0 sitioned within said housing and having a portionvisible through said aperture, a second movable translucent memberhaving a removable opaque coating disposed within said housing andhaving a portion disposed behind the visible portion of said firstmember, a source of light positioned behind said portion of said secondmember whereby light which would fall on the visible portion of saidfirst member is intercepted by said second member, and-means forremoving a portion of said coating at desired settings of said indicatorto permit said visible portion of said first member to be illuminated atsaid settings, said means being arranged to remove said coating over astrip the width oi which subtends an angle at the source of lightsubstantially. equal to the angle substended at said source by the widthof the visible portion of said first member.

This specification signed this 7th day of August, 1930.

ADOLPH J. NEEF.

